Everyone's got a fear
by Gambitized
Summary: Everyone has a fear. The D.A. might seem fearless, but one by one, they are tested by the Carrows detentions. Read as the D.A. members face their worst fears. Set during Deathly Hallows, canon compliment. Currently: Paravti meets her first thestral. Now rated M, mostly because of the nature of this story could give nightmares, and probably shouldn't be read by young minds.
1. Anthony's fear

**I feel that I should warn you, the following is pretty dark. I mean, it is a story about people facing their worst fears, so you probably already should have been warned, but the following turned out way darker then I thought it would. So don't blame me if it gives you nightmares.**

* * *

"Goldfish! wake up!"  
Anthony looked up blearily, resisting the temptation rub his eyes. He ignored the sniggers from some of his classmates at the mention of Alecto Carrow's nickname for him, instead squinting at the blackboard for some clue of what Carrow had been talking about.

"Goldfish, I asked you a question." Carrow had moved up swiftly between the rows of desks while he had been reading what had been written about lighters, so that she was standing over him. "Since you have a Mudblood for a father, it's already ingrained in you to be stupid, but even you should be able to answer this.

"I'm just tired," mumbled Anthony, which was perfectly true. He had stayed up nearly the whole night putting the final touches on a plan to smuggle in some of the Weasley Twin's merchandise next Hogsmeade weekend, and before that, helping his younger sister finish her Transfiguration homework. "Late night."

"Why did you stay up so late?" asked Carrow shrewdly, and Anthony jolted awake, sitting upright. _She's on to him!_ Stay calm Anthony told himself. Just have a good excuse, something innocent that she that she can't do anything with.

"WELL" snarled Carrow grabbing his robes and tugging him halfway across his desk.

"I had a nightmare" Anthony blurted out, regretting saying it almost as soon as it came out. Next to him, Terry groaned nearly imperceptibly and put his face into his hands; while Michael suddenly leaned much closer to his textbook then was necessary, obviously wanting to avoid watching the scene.

"A nightmare" said Carrow, and Anthony gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the mocking tone in it. "Perhaps you need to talk about it to get it off your mind."

Again, a few scattered sniggers rose from the room, as people tried to get her approval. Anthony grit his teeth even harder, so that his jaw hurt, and tried to think of something, for he didn't remember the last time he had even had a nightmare; most nights he was too tired to do anything more than collapse into a dreamless sleep.

Anthony straightened up, suddenly aware he had almost nodded off, and tried to force his tired brain into action, trying to make it stay focused in creating a nightmare, but nothing came to mind. Thinking desperately, he glanced up at Carrow, who had reached into her robes for her wand. _Oh shi_ …

Before he had time to reach for his own wand, her spell hit him right in the chest, sending him soaring through the air for a split-second, before he unceremoniously crashed onto Padma's desk behind him, chest aching.

For a second, Anthony lay there, now wide awake, but unable to move with the wind knocked out of him. He could hear Michael's groan of sympathy, Padma's squeal of surprise, and the sound of Terry's chair being pulled back. Raising his head a half-inch, he was just in time to see Carrow's spell hit Terry as he started to rise. Terry sat back down heavily, hands going up to his face.

"Detention Goldfish" Carrow practically sang, ignoring what she had just done to Terry with complete indifference. Anthony tensed, dreading the oncoming Crucatus curse, but nothing came. Opening his eyes a half inch, he saw Carrow had turned his back to him and was now slowly walking back to the front of the class. Apparently, she had something different planned.

C'mon, let's get you back up" Anthony heard Michael mutter, then felt himself hoisted back to his feet by Michael and Padma's helping hands. Chest burning, Anthony dragged his chair upright and returned to his desk, rubbing his chest in a futile effort to make breathing easier. Behind him he could hear a slight scrape as Padma returned to her desk, and on his right side he saw Michael doing the same. On his other side, Terry had pulled out his wand and was waving it around his nose in attempt to stop the pus now pouring out of it.

Carrow had reached the front of the room again and let out a wheezy giggle of delight before turning to look right at him, smirking. "Goldfish, your detention will be at five, in this room. Now to continue. Imagine, if you can picture yourself stupid enough, that you needed to make a fire just to survive, and being a Mudblood, you have…

Anthony didn't bother paying attention to the rest, instead dwelling on what the detention would be. Usually the Carrows just preformed the Cruciatus curse, or else got someone else to do it. Five o'clock was too late for any lessons to put the Cruciatus on him, and she liked to do it in front of a audience.

Sighing deeply, Anthony knew that he would be the first to find out if they had evented some new method of punishment.

* * *

At a quarter to five, Anthony bid a gloomy Farwell to his friends and walked slowly toward the Muggle studies classroom, Stomach rumbling, Anthony hoped that he would still have time to run down to Great hall for dinner after the detention ended, though he didn't have high hopes. Having been in too many detentions already this year, he was too well acquainted with the Carrow's meaning of a detention to have any real hope that it would be over before midnight.

"Anthony!" called a girl's voice, and turning, Anthony saw his sister, Karen, fighting her way to him through a crowd of students going down to dinner. Ducking into a corridor, Anthony waited patiently for her to make her way through the crowd.

"Anthony," repeated Karen, finally reaching him. "I just heard that you were put into detention again.

"I nodded off again in class, that's all," said Anthony.

"It was because of me, wasn't it?" said Karen, sounding worried. "I should have asked you to help me with my homework. I could have done by myself, but I just wasn't quite sure if I had-

"No, no it's fine," said Anthony, studying his sister. He hated seeing her like this, so worried about him. She was only fourteen; she shouldn't be scared for him. "I'll just go serve my detention real quick, and then I'll see you down at dinner, OK?

"Ok," said Karen, though she didn't look convinced.

"Go on, I'll be fine," he prodded her. She left, still looking worried. He waited until she was out of sight before starting off for the Muggle Studies classroom. She knew as well as he did that it he probably wouldn't be fine, but he appreciated her listening to him anyway. He knew it was hard for her to watch him go to detention just to get tortured, but she left him anyway, even though she was probably dying to help him. Anthony smiled to himself. He was proud of her, for knowing when to pick her fights.

Consumed by thoughts of his sister, it took Anthony a moment to realize that he was before the door that led to the Muggle studies classroom. Anthony hesitated a moment before knocking, trying to ignore how tired he felt.

Carrow opened the door, leering at him as Anthony walked in, trying to contain his rapidly growing sense of dread at the sight of the room. It was unchanged from earlier in the day, except for a rather large and intimidating packing case resting on Carrow's desk. Anthony's sense of dread only intensified when the case gave a sudden lurch, as if it was trying to reach him.

Anthony turned, his hand unintentionally going to his wand as he looked toward Carrow, whose leer had only grown wider in the few seconds that he had spent surveying the room. After an unbearable stretch of silence, in which she did nothing but continue to grin at him happily, Anthony cleared his throat, "What's my detention?

"You'll stay in this room." Carrow's voice nearly broke with happiness, and Anthony felt his stomach jolt. "You'll have stay in here for half an hour.

"What will I be doing?" asked Anthony, still keeping a close eye on the case.

Opening the bloody case, stupid," cackled Carrow. She waited a moment, than unable to contain her glee, continued. "It has a boggart in it.

 _A boggart? That wasn't that bad._ Anthony thought to himself. He had faced one under Professor Lupin's tutelage back in his third year, and he could clearly remember making his boggart, a hippogriff, transform into a rather hilarious giant dancing cup with ease. He couldn't imagine that he would have a much harder time this time around, which meant that there must be some kind of catch.

"I'll need your wand." Carrow spoke, as though reading his mind. "It wouldn't be much fun without it.

Anthony clutched his wand tighter. His wand was his life line, his one protection and tool against anything in the Magical world, and he had always had it on his person, or at least nearby, since he had first received it, seven years ago. To give it up would mean rendering himself helpless, just as he was about to face a magical creature. His first instinct was to refuse, to draw it out and stun Carrow.

Another, wiser, part of Anthony told him that this was not the time, that stunning Carrow now would mean running for his life, abandoning the relative safety of Hogwarts. It wasn't time to fight back like that yet.

Anthony reluctantly drew out his wand, and hesitating for another moment, handed it to Carrow, who seized it before he could reconsider.

"Enjoy your stay," said Carrow, letting out another wheezy giggle. "I'm going to go eat, but I'll be back for you in a little bit."

With that, she walked out, closing the door behind her, leaving Anthony alone in the room with only a packing case containing his worst fear to keep him company.

Anthony leaned on one of the desks, trying to find a way out of his situation. He believed her when she said that she could make it worse. Rude and dim as Alecto Carrow was, she certainly didn't lack in cunning.

He was actually a little puzzled that she hadn't stayed to watch. It seemed like the kind of thing that she would enjoy, watching people being forced to helplessly look on as their worst fears came to life in front of them.

Of course, Carrow's decision to leave didn't really matter right now. He was going to have to open the case. That, or try and go on the run, which would mean breaking out of Hogwarts, getting over to the wall and apparating without being caught. That's not even thinking about leaving his sister and the D.A. behind, and Anthony would never do that.

So that just left opening the box.

Of course, his boggart wasn't going to be the same as it had been four years ago Anthony knew, This time, it would be much worse. Now it could be a hippogriff killing him. It could be Snape learning about the D.A. It could be his sister and his parents dying. Actually, now that he thought about it, it didn't matter what it was going to be, seeing as Carrow had taken away his only way of fighting it.

Anthony started for the case, then hesitated, thinking. He would have to open it, but who said that he had to open it now? Wouldn't it be better to wait he heard Carrow moving outside the door, then open the case at the last second?

Smirking to himself, Anthony started for the nearest desk, figuring he might as well make himself comfterble while he waited. This time at least, he had outsmarted her. The only hard part was going to be keeping himself awake for half an hour. If he could do that, it would be a simple matter to open the case when he heard Carrow moving outside. After all, it's not like she was exactly stealthy when she walked, not with all the giggling she did to herself.

And then, just as Anthony reached the desk, a loud _Crack_ broke the silence, making him jump. Behind him, a short, rather old looking house–elf wearing a tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts crest had appeared, right in front of the case.

For a moment, Anthony and the elf just started at each other. Anthony was rather taken back. Was this how Carrow was going to know if he opened the case?

"Begging your pardon sir," said the elf, breaking the silence. His voice came out as a squeak, surprising Anthony, who had expected a deep croak. "I'll be out of your way in just a moment."

Anthony continued to stare at it, still too taken back to say anything. He watched soundlessly as the elf fumbled with the latch to the case. _Of course,_ Anthony thought to himself. _Carrow was too clever by half to leave him here without making sure the case was opened._

A moment later, and the elf straightened up, his task done. Too late, Anthony started to move forward, thinking to keep the case shut. Before he had taken two steps, the elf had lifted the case's lid, and, with one more glance at Anthony, disapparating with a loud _crack!_

Anthony switched tactics, backing away from the case. Already he could see something, _someone,_ climbing out of the case. Anthony closed his eyes, wildly hoping that by keeping his eyes shut, he would be able to prevent the boggart from affecting him.

"Anthony… help," came a weak voice from in front of him. Anthony felt his heart lurch. The voice belonged to Karen, and even without looking, he could tell that she was hurt. "Help me."

Anthony kept his eyes tightly shut. He knowing that it was a ploy, knowing that opening his eyes would make it a thousand times worse.

"Anthony…" his sister's voice begged again. "You got to help me."

 _It's not real_ Anthony told himself over and over, a litany to protect him. _That's not Karen._

"Anthony, why does it hurt?" said his sister's voice, higher than usual with horror. "Why won't you help me?

Anthony shook his head, but the hurt in her voice was almost killing him. He could hear how much pain she was in, not just when she talked, but in the painful gurgle that came every time she breathed.

"Anthony," his sister pleaded, her voice weaker than ever. "Why won't you look at me?"

"Enough!" Anthony screamed at the boggart. "Stop it. Stop talking!"

"Anthony, please, please help me." His sister's voice sobbed.

It sounded exactly like her, down to the way she said his name. Anthony could almost see her in front of him, eyes begging him to help her.

Somewhere in front of him, Karen screamed in pain.

It was too much for him to bear. Opening his eyes, Anthony quickly looked around for his sister. Within moments, he located her, laying at the front of the classroom, too weak for her to stand up.

Anthony hurried to her, everything forgotten except for the need to help her. He reached her quickly, kneeling down beside her. There was blood in her robes, their dark color hiding it until he had gotten closer. Frantic, he tried to find where it was coming from.

"Why?" Karen asked.

"Why what?" said Anthony, still trying to find where she was bleeding.

"Why did you do it?" Karen asked, staring up at him.

"I didn't do anything." Anthony was growing more frantic. "Where are you hurt? Why can't I find it?"

"Why did you kill me?" Karen said her eyes wide with innocence. "I know you didn't meant too, but why did you hurt me?"

Anthony stared at her, looking at the conviction in her eyes. She believed what she was saying. She was so convinced that Anthony almost started to believe it as well. No he told himself. It's just a boggart. It's not real.

"Why did you curse me?" the boggart pressed.

"I didn't…" Anthony shook his head, unable to complete the thought. "It wasn't…"

"I saw you. You promised you would protect me." Karen's voice broke. "Why did you do it?"

"It wasn't me!" Anthony screamed at her, backing up until he was against the wall. "I could never hurt you."

It's a boggart. It's not real. Anthony told himself over and over again. His sister just lay there, robes bloodied, staring at him accusingly. Anthony stared right back, unable to look away. It was a nightmare, a bad dream, but it was too real. It was too real to just be a nightmare.

His sister was starting to speak again, but Anthony couldn't hear it, too horrified to make out what she was saying He just gazed at his dying sister. He never could have done this to her. He never could have hurt her. He could barely comprehend the thought. Anthony drew his knees up to his chest, curling up into a ball like an animal trying to protect itself. He could never hurt her. It was impossible. She didn't know anything. He couldn't have done this. It wasn't real. No matter how real it felt, it wasn't.

* * *

He didn't know how long he stayed like that, telling himself that it wasn't real. He didn't even notice Carrow until she banished the boggart back into the packing case.

"Well Goldfish, have you learned your lesson?" said Carrow, leering over him.

Anthony numbly nodded his head, still staring at the spot where Karen had been. He became aware that he was cold, shivering slightly in the temperate castle.

"Well what are you waiting for then witless?" Carrow said, pointing out of the door and smiling at his discomfort. "Get out of my classroom."

Anthony weakly got to his feet and started walking out of the classroom. He immediately set out for the Ravenclaw tower, not feeling remotely hungry anymore. Even as he walked, images of his sister, dead by his curse followed him, and without meaning to, he broke out into a run, trying to outrun the fear. He knew deep down, that he wouldn't be able to; that what he had witnesses wouldn't leave for a long time.

It wasn't real he kept telling himself. It never happened. No matter how real it seemed, it wasn't.

It didn't help much.

* * *

 **I'm planning on continuing this, but I only have so many ideas for horrible fears I can put people through. So if you have any ideas for character fears, please PM me or leave a review.**


	2. Hannah's fear

**A/N: I've decided that I'm going to change the rating of this story up to mature, because I can no longer ignore that this story is rather dark. Keep a eye out for it in the mature filters.**

* * *

"We should hurry,"

Those words seemed to rule her life these days, thought Hannah, as she hurried to catch up to Ernie, who had lengthened his stride as he had said those words. Behind her, Hannah could hear Susan pick up the pace as well, keeping pace with them.

Glancing through a window as they passed it, Hannah noted that the moon had already risen while they had been in the Room of Requirement, filling the corridors with an eerie silver light every time they passed a window. Shivering slightly, Hannah hurried to catch up to Ernie, who had managed to get a little ahead of her, and who seemed completely unperturbed at the moonlight.

Hannah hated these walks the three of them took. Usually it was just the three of them, though sometimes they would switch it up and walk down with some of the other Hufflepuffs. Often, Hannah wished that Neville would let them all out at once, so at least they would be in a bigger group. Hannah knew that it didn't really matter how big of a group they were in, but she like the illusion of security it gave her.

"I wish I could say I was used to walking like this by now," mumbled Susan behind her. "But I doubt that I'll ever get used to it.

Hannah nodded, knowing that the silence that was getting to her friend. Even when they had walked down from the D.A. meetings in their fifth year, the castle had never been this quiet. You would still hear students talking in the hall, teachers sweeping through, or failing that, Peeves wrecking havoc somewhere in the castle. These days it was much quieter, gloomier then Hannah ever remembered it.

They reached the entrance hall quicker than Hannah had expected, and were already halfway across it when Amycus Carrow strode out of the entrance to the dungeons, whistling happily.

"Oh dear," said Susan, her voice so quiet that Hannah could barely hear her. Amycus's whistling cut off abruptly as he noticed them, the last notes hanging in the air.

"You ain't in bed yet?" said Amycus, a smile creeping across his doughy face. "I think you'll be in detention for this."

Hannah glanced at her watch. They still had almost five minutes to get to the common room before curfew.

"It's not curfew yet," said Susan, obviously ahead of Hannah.

"You arguing with me?" said Amycus, his voice immediately turning from pleasant to dangerous. Had Hannah not been used to it by now, she would have found it terrifying. Even now, it still scared her a little.

"Not at all," said Ernie, speaking up before Susan could reply. "I simply believe that your watch is running a bit late."

"Late is it," snarled Amycus, stepping closer to Ernie then what would be considered polite. Even though Ernie was taller than Amycus, the effect was still oddly scary. "D'you think I'm stupid?"

"No," said Ernie, scooting back from Amycus.

"Cause I ain't," said Amycus. He glared right at Hannah, who shrunk down as small as she could, feeling like she was trapped in a spotlight. "What do you think Abbot?"

Hannah could feel Amycus glaring at her, feeding off her obvious fear in a way that reminded her of a Dementor.

"My watch says that we not out past curfew," said Hannah, deliberately misinterpreting the question.

"Idiot!" shouted Amycus immediately, the sound so loud that Hannah couldn't help but flinch. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No," said Hannah, in a small voice. She knew that he was picking on her, because she was the weakest target, the one who always cowered in fear when he looked at her, but it didn't help her be brave in the face of his shouting

"I don't believe you Abbot," said Amycus, still speaking far louder then was necessary. "I think you are lying to me. You think you're better than me."

"No," said Hannah again. Amycus ignored her.

"You need to be punished for thinking your better then a pure-blood. You need learn a lesson."

'Now hold on…" began Ernie, drawing himself up.

Before Ernie could finish, Amycus's wand had appeared from nowhere, and, almost of its own accord, a spell erupted from the tip and hit Ernie directly in the head. Ernie's head snapped back, and he fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"Don't," said Amycus, pointing his wand at Susan, who had started to reach for her wand. "You'll never make it."

Hannah rushed down to Ernie's side. Already a massive bruise was forming on his forehead, but as Hannah turned his head, she could still hear him breathing.

"Your boyfriend's fine," said Amycus. "Let's go."

"He's not my…" started Hannah, but realizing how pointless it was to tell this to Amycus. Then his next words penetrated. "Go where?"

"Your detention, stupid," snarled Amycus, prodding Hannah with his wand.

"Tonight?" said Hannah, her heart dropping. "Right now?"

"Yes, and yes," said Amycus. "Now LET'S GO"

He delivered these last two words at a shout, and Hannah jumped up immediately, too terrified to do otherwise.

"See, that wasn't so hard," Amycus grinned at Hannah, before pointing his wand at Susan. "You, drag the boy back into his dormitory. If he's still here when I get back, I'll put both of you in detention."

Hannah glanced back at Susan as Amycus grabbed her arm and started marching her back up the stairs she had come down a minute ago. Susan's expression was so helpless and filled with rage that Hannah felt bad for her, before remembering that she was about to happen to her.

As she was marched up the stairs, Hannah's mind supplied its owner with any number of horrible things that was about to happen to her. He could be taking her down to the dungeons, where she would undoubtedly be tortured. Or maybe he was to lock her up in his office until his next class. Or maybe he would just throw her in the first empty classroom he saw and torture her himself for the rest of the night.

Rationally, Hannah knew that these were all rather silly, but even so, she couldn't help but play these scenarios over and over in her mind until she felt ready to puke. Still dragging her, Amycus had started whistling again, and Hannah knew that she must be shaking uncontrollably by now, though she only felt a bit numb.

It seemed to take hours to reach the defense against the dark arts classroom, but Hannah knew that it couldn't have taken that long. The classroom looking scarier than ever with only moonlight streaming in through the windows, making the desks look much intimidating to Hannah then they did during the day. Carrow prodded her in, before slamming the door shut behind him and waving his wand so that the candles on one wall lit up, filling up the moonlit with flickering shadows.

Amycus turned toward Hannah, regarding her with a leer that Hannah didn't like at all.

"Give me your wand," he grunted.

Hannah hardly hesitated, putting a shaking hand into her robes and holding her wand out to him. Little though she wanted to give it to him, she knew that there wasn't much point in hesitating, when he was going to take it from her anyway.

"Good," said Amycus, "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back.

Hannah stood by the door, trying not to let her knees shake to much as she watched Amycus stump out of the door, sealing it behind him and leaving Hannah in the empty room by herself, with only the fear of what was about to happen to her to keep her occupied. Time seemed to crawl by slowly, and after a while Hannah sunk into the familiar desk where she usually sat during his lessons.

Hannah was just wondering if he really was going to lock her up in here until the next defense against the dark arts meeting when the door burst open and Amycus came through, floating a big packing case in front of him. With a wave it went soaring through the air and landed heavily on the desk.

Hannah picked herself up from the floor, where she had fallen when Amycus had opened the door. Amycus stood in front of the door as though he was going to block her in case she made a break for it; Hannah thought this was rather unnecessary because her knees felt so weaknthat she thought that if she did try and run, she wouldn't be able to get two feet before collapsing on the ground.

"You'll stay here until I come back to get you," said Amycus suddenly, after a few seconds of them standing there. "D'you understand?"

Hannah nodded, doubting that that her mouth was capable of making any noise. Scared as she had been when she had been waiting in the room by herself, she now felt much worse. As soon as she had seen the packing case, she had known what was in store for her. Just a few hours ago Anthony had told the D.A. about the boggart he had been put into detention with. He hadn't told them what he had seen, But it was obvious by how shaken he had looked that it had been really bad.

And now Hannah knew that she would have to face it.

Amycus had been saying something, but Hannah, too scared to properly pay attention to him, didn't hear anything until he slammed the door shut behind him, and then the door sealing shut behind him.

Hannah walked numbly over to the door, knowing that she wouldn't be able to move it, and finding it quite firmly shut. Giving up, she walked so that she was standing in front of the case, which, if it happened like Anthony had told it, would soon be opened by a house-elf.

"Be brave," she murmured to herself. Instantly, an image of Neville sprang to mind, as tall and fearless as the real Neville. Hannah's knees stopped shaking, she stopped shivering as much, and her mind felt a little clearer. Hannah was just thinking that if she could just keep the image of Neville for a bit longer, she would be ready, when a house-elf appeared in front of her with a loud _Crack_!

Not looking at her, the house-elf undid the latch, flipped open the lid, and disappeared with another loud _Crack!_ Almost before Hannah could register what had happened to the house-elf, she saw her mum walk out of the case.

"M-mum?" gasped Hannah, the house-elf and Neville completely forgotten now. Her mum looked like she always did in Hannah's nightmares, still in her nightclothes, the round face that Hannah had inherited devoid of any expression. Blood covered her face, painting it a pale red in the dim light. She was clearly dead, and as soon as she had stepped out of the case, she collapsed onto the ground.

Hannah rushed to her side, like she did so often during the days when Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let her have any of the potion that let her sleep dreamlessly. Just like in all her nightmares, her mum had already reached the floor by the time Hannah had started moving, and by the time Hannah started forward, a new pair of arms had caught her.

Though this didn't happen as often as some the other nightmares, it had happened often enough that Hannah knew without looking that it was her dad that had caught the body, eyes red with spent tears, more broken then Hannah had seen him in her first sixteen years of life.

It was a little surprising therefore when Hannah looked at who it was. It _was_ her dad, but younger, more vital then she had seen him in a year. Instead being bowed down with the weight of his wife's death, this was a man still in his prime.

"This is your fault," He hissed, hatred in his eyes as he glared at his daughter, still cradling his wife. "You killed her."

Hannah drew back as though physically hit. Her dad had never looked at her like that before, not once.

"Dad?" she offered.

He ignored it. "You! You could have prevented this."

Hannah shook her head, feeling cold. She had expected the boggart to show her horrible things, had fully expected to see her mum dead, but this was a thousand times worse, to see her father hate her.

"No," whispered Hannah, squatting down so that she was level with him; it occurred to her that this wasn't real, but it was only a small thought floating in her brain when compared to the reality of her dad in front of her. "It was the Death Eaters Dad, they killed her when we were both gone. It wasn't out fault."

"It wasn't _my_ fault," said her dad, never blinking as he stared at Hannah. "There was nothing I could have done to protect her. Isn't that right dear?" he added to the dead body in his arms, shaking her roughly.

"I know that Dad," said Hannah, feeling as scared and helpless as she usually did when she had the nightmares, though this felt far more real. "We've talked about this before."

"It must be your fault then," said her dad causally, as though he was discussing the weather.

"Don't say that," whispered Hannah, tears welling up in her eyes, horrified beyond words at what her dad had said.

"Why else would they attack?" asked her dad, now transferring his gaze down to his bloodied wife. "It was something you did, wasn't it?"

"No," Hannah tried to say, but the words got stuck before they even came out. Instead she just shook her head, tears coming down her cheeks.

"It was you joining Dumbledore's Army," pronounced her dad in a loud voice, as though telling the world. "That's why they targeted us."

Hannah tried to deny it, to summon up some little bit of resistance to refute him, but she couldn't bring herself to. When her mother had first died, she had blamed herself. In the end she had realized that it was silly, but she couldn't quite stop herself. So she hid it where she didn't have to think about it.

And now her father, the only family she had left, was confirming it.

"I can't think of any other reason, can you?" said her dad, and Hannah wasn't sure if he was talking to her, or the body. "You used to say that everything happened for a reason, didn't you dear? And I can't think of one."

"No," Hannah managed to whisper, wishing that she believed it. "No, it was random; I had nothing to do with it."

"You just had to join that gang, didn't you?" her dad went on, talking over Hannah's feeble protests. "We all could have lived happily if you hadn't"

Hannah stood up and went to the window, unable to keep looking at her parents. Her dad's voice trailed after her. "See, you aren't even denying it. You killed her."

Hannah shook her head again, though she knew it didn't matter. Her heart was beating hard that she could feel every single beat against her chest; it felt like a spell was hitting her in the chest over and over. Her palms were nearly drenched with sweat, and she became aware that she was shivering again. She tried to summon up the image of Neville, but it wouldn't come.

"This is worse than you nightmares, huh sweetie?" asked her dad tenderly. If Hannah knew that he wasn't holding her dead mother, she would have felt ten years old again. "That's because it's true here."

"Not like my dreams," agreed Hannah. She wished that she was relieving the terror of when Amycus had dragged her up here; at least that had ended soon. Who knew when this torture would end? "Leave me alone."

She could hear him getting up, but she didn't turn around, not even when he moved right behind her.

"Don't worry Honey; I'll be right here, so you won't forget."

Hannah didn't know how long she sat there, wishing that her father would leave. Every time she heard him breath it was as though he was blaming her. The thought that it might be true that she was to blame for her mother's death terrified her. The thought that her dad blamed her for it was worse. Long before Amycus opened the door again, Hannah had curled into a ball, shivering so violently that it looked like she had been caught in the middle of a blizzard.

Hannah barely noticed as Amycus banished the boggart, indeed barely moved until he dragged her out the door. Numbly, head still too full of what she had seen, she started moving automatically toward the Hufflepuff common room.

Now that her dad was gone, the fear seemed to ease up a little. Hannah doubted that it would go away, but it wasn't so bad now. She reached her dormitory without incident, collapsing onto her bed without undressing. She knew that she should go to sleep, to try and get some rest, but every time she closed her eyes she saw her dad holding her mom, and she knew it would be a long time before she could look at her dad the same way.

* * *

 **A/N: this didn't really end the way I wanted it to, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. If you saw anything you loved, (Or Hated) leave a review. Also, if you have an idea for a fear for one of the D.A., I'd be happy to hear about it, since I have have bright ideas for a few D.A. members.**


	3. Parvati's fear

**A/N: sorry for the slightly unpolished chapter, but I felt like I need to update this sometime, since I meant to do this last week. please enjoy.**

* * *

If she hadn't stopped to dawdle in front of the mirror after washing her hands, Parvati knew that she wouldn't be in this mess.

Pansy was blocking the doorway, preventing Parvati from leaving, not that Parvati felt much like leaving. Anger was surging through her, and it was taking all of her willpower to prevent her from taking out her wand and cursing Pansy all the way to St. Mungo's

"I said, Where's that slut you call your best friend," said Pansy speaking very deliberately, grinning at Parvati nastily, the three girls behind her giggling. "Don't make me repeat myself again."

Parvati forced a smile onto her face, though she was sure it didn't fool anyone. "She's probably waiting for me in Divination."

"You're still taking lessons from Trelawney, the stupid little fraud?" asked Pansy, the mocking grin on still on her face. "" Oh, Are you all right? you look like your stomach hurts.

"I'm fine," said Parvati tightly. She knew that Pansy was trying to get her to do something stupid, and she refused to let it work. "And I'm taking Divination with Frenize this year, something you would know if you had been managed to get a decent score on your O.W.L."

"Oh, my score was fine, thank you," said Pansy, but Parvati saw how her eyes narrowed slightly and knew she had scored a point, albeit a minor one. "And I would never take lessons from a half-breed," she added suddenly.

"I am, and I'm going to be late if I don't leave right now," said Parvati angrily, pushing past Pansy.

"How's your sister doing?" yelled Pansy, as Parvati hurried down the hall. "I heard that she was sleeping the Amycus, trying to get her grades back up. Is that true?"

Parvati halted in her tracks. The anger that started when Pansy had insulted Lavender, Firenze and Professor Trelawney blew up. Her breathing unsteady, she plunged a hand into her robes, grabbed her wand, and whirled about, yelling "STUPIFY!"

Parvati got Pansy before any of her gang could react, her body collapsing limply to the floor, her face frozen in shock. The other three girls froze for a moment, giving Parvati enough time to hit Millicent Bulstrode, whose limbs snapped to her body, and she fell to the floor with a loud crash.

But now the other two girls had realized what was going on. One dived through the bathroom door Pansy was still holding open with her body, and the other sent a curse toward Parvati, who quickly sidestepped it. Parvati retaliated by sending another full body bind toward the girl, who ducked as it soared over her head.

The other girl leaned out of the room, only her head and arm showing, yelling "Impedimenta!"

Parvati only just managed to shout "Protego" in time for it to bounce off, hitting the first girl, who was a little too slow this time. The curse hit her right in the chest, and Parvati could see her struggling against the curse, glaring at Parvati spitefully.

Parvati felt like she was doing pretty well – only one left out of four—when she heard a loud BANG behind her. Fast as she was, she had only turned halfway around when ropes caught her around the ankles, wrists, and mouth. With a curse muffled by the gag, she overbalanced and fell to the floor headfirst, wincing as her cheek struck the hard stone floor. Her wand clattered out of her hands, and, after a moment of searching with her hands, she determined that it was out of reach.

"What's going on here?" said Alecto Carrow's voice. "I'm in the middle of a class, and you interrupt me?"

"It was her," said one of the Pansy's gang, presumably the only one left who could still talk. "She ambushed us just as we were leaving."

"Another witless girl attacking you, eh?" said Alecto, her footsteps coming closer. "They never learn, eh?"

Parvati felt hands drag her upright, dragging her so that she could sit upright against the wall. Alecto 's lumpy face was right in front of her, a smile playing around her mouth that Parvati knew meant bad news for her.

"Patil, right?" asked Alecto, picking up Parvati's wand. "You're in trouble now, aren't you? attacking for no reason."

Parvati didn't bother to respond, doubting that even if she had been able to speak, that anything she said would be make a difference at this point. Instead, she tested the bindings on her wrists, as Alecto walked to where Pansy and Millicent where still laying on the floor. The knots were tight, and she doubted that she would be able to get them off anytime soon.

By turning her head, Parvati was able to watch as Alecto pointed her wand, first at Pansy's limp body, then at Millicent's rigid one. two flashes of light later, and both of them climbed to their feet, looking mad.

Alecto walked back over to where Parvati was restrained, her squat her form seeming much taller than usual. Without a word, Alecto used her wand to cut the robes. Parvati flinched as her carless aim of the spell nicked her skin slightly, but refused to give Alecto the satisfaction of uttering any noise. Alecto seemed to take no notice, hoisting her to her feet and dragging her back to the Muggle Studies classroom.

Parvati followed Alecto, knowing that Lavender would already be missing her in Divination. Parvati anxiously spun the bracelet she wore on her wrist in circles, an action made awkward by the ropes on her wrists, as Alecto quickened her pace, seemingly eager to reach their destination.

In what seemed like mere seconds, They had reached the door to the Alecto's classroom. Alecto barged in, scaring the thirty or so third years that were copying something from the blackboard.

"Out," Alecto barked, and the third years all quickly stuffed their work inside their bags, and scurried out, seeming not at all sorry to leave.

Alecto shoved her into a chair, making the chair skid a few inches with the violence of the moment. Without bothering to look at her, Alecto walked out, slamming the door behind her. Parvati waited a good five seconds, before reaching up and ribbing the gag out of her mouth.

"That's better," she told the empty room, before going to work on the ropes keeping her wrists together. These proved much tougher; after a solid five minutes of working at the knots with her teeth, she tried sawing it against the rough edge of the desk. After another five minutes of this, she gave up, knowing that it wouldn't have done much good to be free of the bindings without her wand anyway.

Alecto walked in, less than a minute after Parvati had given up working on the ropes., floating a large case in front of her. Parvati knew instantly what would be in the case.

"A boggart," said Alecto to Parvati, apparently thinking that she didn't know what was inside it. With a wave of her wand, the case flew through the air and came to rest on the desk. Another wave, and the ropes holding Parvati's wrists together fell to the floor in pieces.

Rubbing her wrists, Parvati stood up and turned to look at Alecto. To her surprise, the door was already closed, and was partway through sealing itself with a noise like a lemon being squished.

Parvati stood up, thinking. She could still hear Professor Lupin's voice in her mind. ' _I would like all of you to take a moment to think what scares you the most…'_ Parvati shivered as any number of horrible things came to mind, an effect she was sure had been reinforced by being forced to live in the castle this year.

The first thing that came to her mind was a mummy, the same mummy that had appeared to her in her third year, and a memory of a vacation in Egypt, where a mummy had come to life in one of the pyramids they had been in, and grabbed Padma by the hair. At once, an image far worse came to mind, one of Padma, lying on a blood strewn floor, clearly dead.

Parvati reached for her wand, forgetting in her terror that she didn't have it, and that the scene in front of her was fake, a mere image caused by an overworked imagination.

 _Breath_ , she told herself, closing her eyes. _Just breathe_. _You can't be scared, you where put in Gryffindor._ When she opened her eyes, she could still imagine Padma lying there, and Parvati wondered if Alecto was doing this on purpose. Maybe she knew how horrible the wait felt?

 _She can go to hell,_ thought Parvati determinedly, straightening up. Barely hesitating, she marched to the desk, undid the latch, and threw it open.

Parvati felt it before she saw it. She remembered two years ago when Hagrid had led them onto the forbidden forest, deeper then she had ever wanted to go, and showed them the thestrals. She had never forgotten the flesh from the cow had disappeared into thin air or the cold feeling when they had passed close to her.

The same feeling was coming from the packing case now, and Parvati backed up so fast that she smacked into a desk behind her. Rubbing her leg where it had hit, she watched fearfully as head, and then the legs climbed slowly out of the case.

It was exactly as Parvati had pictured them. The book had described them as skeletal creatures, and Parvati saw as emerged from the case completely, that the book had understated it. The threstral barely had any skin on it, and she could see the white of bones showing through in several places. The head was covered in spiky black fur, with blood slowly dripping from it.. However, it wasn't until Parvati looked into the eyes that she stepped back, repelled by what she saw.

The eyes were bright red, with slits where the pupils should have gone. And behind those eyes lay the promise of misery, of horror and fear and anguish and a dozen other things that Parvati couldn't name.

Backpedaling as fast as she could, she gasped in pain as she slammed into the same desk she had hit a minute earlier, whirling around at the noise it made as it scrapped backwards a few inches. Parvati could feel her heart racing as she looked around wildly for a second, searching for what had hit her. Realizing after a moment that it was just the desk, she jumped at a noise the threstral made. She turned as fast as was humanly possible, all too aware that the thestral could be right behind her.

The threstral was ignoring her, bent over something- A body? laying on the floor that Parvati was quite sure hadn't been there a moment before. It wasn't until the thestral lifted its head that Parvati was able to get a clear look at what it

It was now clearly a body, a very familiar body. Parvati couldn't see the head, but she recognized the hair, the hands that were so like her own. Only the absence of the dull gold bangle on the right hand revealed the truth: it wasn't Parvati's body, it was Padma's.

Parvati drew back, feeling as though she had been struck. She had expected this, (how could she not?) but seeing her sister lying like this, beyond any help that Parvati knew she could provide, was far worse then she could ever imagine.

Too horrorstruck to do anything, Parvati watched, frozen, as the thestral gazed at her for a moment, then, reached its long, bony neck down toward Padma's body, reaching for the hand that Parvati could see.

Parvati shrieked, as the thestral gripped the hand with its teeth, and ripped a long strip of skin from it. Parvati's stomach turned as the skin ripped off, making a wet, sloppy sound as it came off. Parvati only managed to look a instant longer, before she couldn't bear it anymore, and fell to her knees, puking onto the ground.

The sound of her vomit hitting the floor didn't quite manage to disguise the noise the thestral was making as it chewed, pointed teeth making short work of the skin. The sound alone made her sick, and she had barely finished puking the first time, when she felt it coming up again.

This time, the sound of her retching was so loud that it almost managed to hide the noise the thestral was making, though enough of it got through that Parvati had no doubt what it was doing.

Grasping the desk she had hit earlier, she forced herself up, forcing herself to glare at the thestral, which promptly ignored her and reached down to take another strip of her sister. Screaming with rage, Parvati grabbed a chair and threw it at the thestral.

The thestral merely stepped to one side, kicking over Padma's limp body as it did so. Parvati almost puked again, and it was only with extreme force of will that she managed not to.

Padma was barely recognizable, her white skull showing through on one side. Screaming incoherently, Parvati seized another chair and threw it at the thestral, her eyes never leaving what was left of her sister's face. The chair clattered against the wall uselessly. Parvati grabbed the desk and tossed as hard as she could against toward the thestral, grunting with the effort.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Parvati yelled, grabbing another desk as the first one missed. "STOP TOUCHING HER!"

She threw the second desk, and though lighter than expected, it was too bulky for her to manage it, and it flew harmlessly into the teacher's desk, making the house elf that had just appeared there jump. With a startled look at her, the elf, disappeared with a loud crack hidden by the sound of the chair Parvati had just tossed at it.

"STOP IT. STOP IT," Parvati screeched, grabbing a chair and switching tactics, instead running up and bashing it against the thestral who acted like nothing was happening. "DON'T YOU DARE THOUCH HER AGAIN YOU BASTERD!"

Parvati hit the thestral with the chair again and again. For what felt like a hour, she just stood there, lifting the chair over and over, before giving up, her arms shaking with the effort she had expended. Standing, there, trembling with rage and helplessness, She watched as the thestral reached down and tore off the last of Padma's face, leaving nothing but a grinning white skull, with only a few small bloody chunks clinging on to it. Parvati gagged at the noise, hating the thestral for doing this, hating Alecto for doing this too her, hating Pansy for causing this, and hating herself for not being able to stop this.

Parvati felt hot tears she had tried to deny well up, the feeling of helplessness only increasing. She looked around for some way out of this mess, some escape to end this. When she turned back to the thestral, another body had appeared, the blond hair spilling out in front of the face revealing who it was instantly to Parvati.

Anger surged through Parvati, and with another screamed, she resumed her attempts to stop the thestral, to find some way for it to leave Lavender alone. Screaming once more, She picked up everything that she could lift, tossing it all, refusing to acknowledge what was happening to her best friend. Minutes seem to pass, and at last, when everything in the room had landed in a pile, and Parvati's voice was almost gone, when her whole body was trembling, she looked at Lavender.

Her friend's face was almost gone, and the thestral, with a snort, moved her body toward Padma's so that the two bodies… the two skeletons… were touching, like some morbid hug of dying friends. Finally accepting that she could do nothing to stop this, Parvati slumped down to the floor, defeated.

"Please…" she begged, looking up from where the skeletal remains of her sister and her best friend lie. "Just stop. I can't"

The thestral regarded her for a moment, before reaching its long, nightmarish head down toward the bodies. Parvati watched it, tears thankfully blurring her vision, so that she couldn't make out the details of what it was doing.

There was a small, mocking knock on the door, and someone opened the door. Parvati glimpsed around, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. Alecto stood above her, taking in the carnage that Parvati had caused. With a simple wave of her wand, she accomplished what Parvati had been trying to do since this nightmare began. The thestral, Padma, and Lavender all disappeared in front of Paravti's eyes, gone so fast that she could still see afterimages of them in front of her.

"Are you going to stop fighting in the corridors?" asked Alecto, waving her wand so that all the desks and chairs flew back into their spots, before turning to face Parvati, the usual lumpy grin in place.

"yes," mumbled Parvati hoarsely, getting to her feet. She couldn't meet Alecto's eye, but she could tell by her tone that she was leering.

"Don't let me catch you again."

"Right," said Parvati, taking her wand from Alecto 's outstretched hand.

"You can go," said Alecto, just now noticing the puke, and vanishing it with her wand.

Parvati set off immediately, twirling the bracelet on her wrist rapidly, taking some small comfort in the familiar sensation of the metal on her skin. Ginny and Neville needed to be told how bad this was. They had to stop it. They had to destroy the boggart before anyone else was subjected to it.

Parvati stopped at a window, peering out into the misty grounds. It might have been her imagination, but she thought that she saw a shadow fly out of the forest. Only slightly surprised to find that she was shivering again, Parvati quickly turned away from the window, knowing that she would never forget what she had seen.

It was too similar to what her future might hold for her to forget.

* * *

 **A/N: I think I'm going to make the chapters differ a little more, since the last three chapters have all been about people losing family members. realistic, but it needs to be switched up a little.**

 **As always, if you have any ideas, or any criticisms for me, either leave a review, or if you don't want to do that, PM me.**


End file.
